Foreclosures Archives - Page 20 of 57 - Kingcade Garcia McMaken, P.A. Bankruptcy Attorneys

Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Updates to the Reverse Mortgage Program Provide Positive Benefits for Seniors

Posted on January 11, 2016by Admin

Recent updates to reverse mortgage laws provide a more secure retirement for Americans looking to borrow against their home after leaving the workforce.

Many retirees have turned to reverse mortgages in recent years to alleviate financial stress. Reverse mortgages allow retirees, 62 and older, to borrow against the existing equity in their home and not have to repay the principal balance or accrued interest until after they pass away. At which point, their home is sold and used to pay off the remaining balance, interest and any additional fees owed to the lender.

The Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act of 2013 helped retirees who were approved for a reverse mortgage avoid predatory lending. However, many applicants were approved for a reverse mortgage without the lender ensuring the retirees could afford to stay in their homes. Ultimately, many were unable to pay their property taxes, home insurance and other annual maintenance fees, which forced them into foreclosure.

The program’s recent updates will ensure that anyone who is approved for a reverse mortgage is able to pay the bills associated with the property. Although credit scores and income are still non-factors in the approval process, steps will be taken to ensure the insurance, taxes and other fees are paid. Another update to the law allows the non-borrowing spouse to stay in the home if the spouse who borrowed the loan passes away, first.

Experts say the new rules to the Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act of 2013 will not only allow retirees to stay in their homes longer, but will allow for a more secure retirement.

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Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Obama Program that Hurt Homeowners and Helped Big Banks Comes to an End

Posted on January 6, 2016by Admin

The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) promised to assist 3 to 4 million homeowners to modify their loans and avoid foreclosure. But nearly seven years later, less than 1 million borrowers have received assistance. In fact, nearly one in three re-defaulted after receiving their inadequate modification and 6 million families lost their homes during that same period.

HAMP’s failure essentially stemmed from its design. Rather than a cash-transfer program that hands vouchers to distressed borrowers so they can lower their mortgage payments, the government gave the money to the mortgage servicing companies, to encourage them to modify the loans.

So in the end, it’s the mortgage companies that decide whether or not to provide the aid. With servicers in control of modifications, they could manipulate the program to accumulate more bad debt on borrowers and extract a few extra payments before foreclosing.

Servicers make their money from a percentage of unpaid principal balance on a loan- so forgiving principal — the most successful type of loan modification — cuts into their profits. In addition, the mortgage servicers collect on all of the fees (i.e. – late fees, etc.), so in the end it makes it more profitable for them to keep the borrower delinquent.

70 percent of homeowners who applied for the program were turned down for a permanent modification, according to the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP). The government is also to blame, as it promised a $75 billion commitment to HAMP, and spent only $10.2 billion, with an additional $2 billion on related programs. Most of the spending came too late, after the initial years when the foreclosure crisis was at its worst.

In the most disturbing of revelations involving servicer misconduct, employees at Bank of America’s mortgage servicing unit testified in a class action lawsuit that they were told to lie to homeowners, deliberately misplace their documents, and deny loan modifications without explaining why. For their efforts, upper management rewarded them with bonuses, in the form of Target gift cards, for pushing borrowers into foreclosure.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

SunTrust to Pay Florida Homeowners as Part of Multi-State Mortgage Abuse Settlement

Posted on December 18, 2015by Admin

More than 4,000 Florida residents will be receiving checks this week from SunTrust Mortgage as part of a multi-state settlement over mortgage origination, servicing and foreclosure abuse. SunTrust has agreed to a $550 million joint state-federal mortgage settlement. The banking giant began mailing checks to claimants on December 8, totaling more than $1,300 for each valid claim.

SunTrust entered into the three-year settlement that provides direct payments to Florida borrowers for past foreclosure abuses, loan modifications and other relief for borrowers in 2014. The bank also had to agree to more stringent mortgage servicing standards and to oversight authority by an independent monitor.

According to the agreement, Florida, 48 other states, the District of Columbia and the federal government required SunTrust to provide $550 million in various forms of relief to homeowners, including a $40 million fund to payments to certain borrowers who lost their homes in foreclosure.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

$5.4 Million Awarded to Houston Couple in Foreclosure Fraud Case

Posted on December 11, 2015by Admin

Sometimes David does beat Goliath. It’s a story we have heard thousands of times since the housing crisis. Homeowners fighting the big banks to try and save their homes from foreclosure. Many times arguing that the lender or servicer has no legal authority to foreclose on their home.

One Houston couple recently took on one of the nation’s largest banks- and won! David and Mary Ellen Wolf received a foreclosure notice in 2011 from Wells Fargo. There’s just one problem- The Wolf’s had never done business with Wells Fargo or their mortgage servicer, Carrington Mortgage Services.

After discussing the situation with their neighbor, who is also a lawyer, they determined that neither Wells Fargo nor Carrington had the legal right to foreclose on them. The issue of mortgage notes being transferred between lien holders and servicers after the mortgage was originated is not a foreign concept, but the Wolf’s argued that Wells Fargo violated Texas law.

According to the Houston Chronicle: Wells Fargo retroactively attached the Wolfs’ mortgage to a securitized trust that was closed and sold to investors three years earlier, the bank violated a Texas law that prohibits fraudulent real estate filings. The jury agreed, although State District Judge Mike Engelhart has not formally entered the verdict, and the bank and mortgage company have not said whether they’ll appeal.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Foreclosure Filings Fall in South Florida

Posted on December 10, 2015by Admin

South Florida had a sharp decrease in foreclosure filings in November, losing its spot on the “Top 10 states with the highest number of foreclosures,” according to RealtyTrac’s foreclosure report. There was one foreclosure filing per 645 homes in South Florida, ranking 12^th among metro areas. The region once had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. However, with property values rising, homeowners who were previously underwater have been able to refinance or sell their homes.

Banks are continuing to work through the backlog of foreclosures. The recent numbers mean the share of active foreclosures tied to the housing bubble burst are shrinking, with 59 percent of all loans in foreclosure originated between 2004 and 2008. It continues to decrease from 61 percent earlier this year and 75 percent two years ago, according to Daren Blomquist, VP of RealtyTrac.

There were 3,824 South Florida foreclosure filings in November, down 38.9 percent from the same month a year ago. This total includes new lawsuits, judgments and repossessions. Repossessions accounted for the largest amount at 1,845, as most of the foreclosures are in their final stages.

Atlantic City, New Jersey led the nation in foreclosure filings with one foreclosure every 307 homes.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

South Florida Still in Need of Mortgage Debt Forgiveness

Posted on December 9, 2015by Admin

South Florida was hit harder by the 2008 mortgage, housing, banking and economic crises than any other region in the U.S. and continues to lag behind the nation as a whole in the housing market recovery. We continue to hear stories of families who are struggling to piece their financial lives back together after this seven year ordeal. To make matters worse, without the re-authorization of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act, a number of South Florida homeowners will continue to be unjustly burdened.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act eliminates the income tax on forgiven mortgage debt, eliminating a particularly punitive burden resulting from plummeting home values. In the aftermath of the housing crisis, many homeowners found that their homes were underwater- worth far less than their outstanding mortgage balance.

The most recent foreclosure statistics reveal that Florida’s foreclosure activity remains the nation’s second highest. Five Florida cities were among the 10 highest foreclosure rates for metro areas in the U.S. in the third quarter, including Jacksonville (No. 2), Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach (No. 3) Tampa (No. 4), Miami (No. 5), Lakeland (No. 7) and Ocala (No. 8).

Without the re-authorization of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, any forgiven principal reduction is currently taxable in 2015. This means struggling homeowners, who have already faced job loss and sought loan modifications, will be left owing thousands of dollars in taxes this year on top of the loss of their home and its equity.

Banks and investment firms in the mortgage industry have received numerous breaks throughout the recovery. South Florida homeowners, who have been hit particularly hard by the crisis, have earned the right to this temporary tax break. We urge the Florida congressional delegation to pass the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

High Profile Foreclosure Case moves to Florida Supreme Court

Posted on November 30, 2015by Admin

The Florida Supreme Court is in the final stages of determining when the clock starts ticking on mortgage foreclosure cases. In the case of Bartram v. U.S. Bank, the now defunct law firm of David J. Stern filed a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit against Lewis Bartram of Ponte Vedra Beach back in 2006. Years later, after the law firm shut down, with tens of thousands of foreclosure cases in limbo, U.S. Bank missed a case management conference and its foreclosure case was dismissed.

Thanks to the five-year statute of limitations on mortgage foreclosures, the case was revived and Bartram received another favorable judgment. But U.S. Bank appealed that ruling, and in 2014 Florida’s Fifth District Court ruled in favor of the bank, disregarding Florida’s five-year statute of limitations on mortgage foreclosures.

This was a sad day for struggling homeowners and a victory for the banks in Florida who continue to foreclose on loans that defaulted years ago. Many of those loans are referred to as “zombie mortgages,” or a foreclosure that has been started but not completed.

The issue in this case comes down to mortgage acceleration. Most mortgage contracts carry an acceleration clause, which allows the lender to sue for the entire loan amount immediately, starting a five-year clock on the foreclosure process. But the Fifth District ruled that the court’s dismissal of U.S. Bank’s lawsuit in 2011 negated the loan’s original acceleration date that had been set in 2006, effectively resetting the acceleration date to 2011.

Two other Florida courts have issued similar rulings that uphold the Fifth District decision, but a court in Miami recently ruled against it, leaving it up to Florida’s Supreme Court to decide. We will keep you posted – A ruling on this case is expected in the next couple of months.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

A WIN for Florida Foreclosure Plaintiffs!

Posted on November 27, 2015by Admin

Florida homeowners succeeded in getting a judgment in favor of Wells Fargo dismissed, allowing them to reverse a foreclosure action previously in favor of the bank. The case, Hicks v. Wells Fargo, reached the Fifth District Court of Appeals in the State of Florida. According to the complaint, the issue turned on the statute of limitations, with the Fifth District holding that the bank’s foreclosure claim was time barred by Florida’s five-year statute of limitations for foreclosure.

The homeowners claim it all began when an initial default occurred on June 1, 2006. At some point, a prior holder of the note sued to foreclose on Sept. 8, 2006, but the case was voluntarily dismissed in 2008. Then, in 2011, the current note holder (Wells Fargo) sent a notice to accelerate to the borrowers. The second foreclosure action did not occur until 2013, which is seven years past the original default date.

The appellate court agreed with the borrowers that the 2013 foreclosure action by Wells Fargo is “time-barred” by the state’s five-year statute of limitations; however, the bank is not barred from pursuing new or remaining foreclosure claims that fall within the statute of limitations period.

“Despite the previous acceleration of the balance owed in both the instant suit and prior suit, the bank is not precluded from filing a new foreclosure action based on different acts or dates of default not previously alleged, provided that the subsequent foreclosure action on the subsequent defaults is brought within the statute of limitations period,” the court wrote.

So what can be taken away from this case? Florida’s statute of limitations period is sensitive and acceleration actions cannot suffice without a timely foreclosure action. However, not all is lost if a bank fails to file on time, as long as there is a new valid claim to bring forth.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Mortgage Foreclosures & Delinquencies at Lowest Levels Since 2005

Posted on November 19, 2015by Admin

Approximately 0.38% of loans went into foreclosure during the third quarter, according to a report released this week by the Mortgage Bankers Association. This is the lowest rate since the second quarter of 2005. About 3.57% of loans were at least 90 days past due, the lowest rate since the third quarter of 2007.

These numbers can be attributed to a healthy job market and rising home prices, which allows troubled borrowers to sell as opposed to being foreclosed upon. Fewer foreclosures will likely help home prices, because bank-owned homes tend to sell for less. These often empty homes can deteriorate and affect the value of neighboring homes.

New Jersey, New York and Florida continue to have the highest foreclosure rates, but now the foreclosure problem is largely isolated to loans made before 2009.

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Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

$5 Million Foreclosure Fraud Verdict puts National Mortgage Settlement into Question

Posted on November 16, 2015by Admin

A Texas jury’s recent decision to award more than $5 million in damages and fees for the fraudulent foreclosure of a single home has put the $25 billion national mortgage settlement into question.

This month, a jury in Houston awarded $5.38 million to a couple on the grounds that Wells Fargo Bank and Carrington Mortgage Services knowingly submitted false documents to force them out of their home. The financial compensation for the homeowners is as follows: $150,000 in financial injuries, $40,000 for mental anguish, $5 million in punitive damages and $190,000 in attorney’s fees.

There have been approximately 6 million foreclosures since the start of the foreclosure crisis in 2008 and many of them were completed with robo-signed, fabricated or fraudulent documents. If we apply the $5.38 million jury award to all of those loans, the potential cost from the foreclosure fraud scandal is closer to $32.28 trillion!

This estimate represents the extreme edge of the financial hit to the industry. But while the settlement did not preclude individual civil suits like this one, it’s obvious that most victims of foreclosure do not have the financial means to go back and forth in court like this family did.

That is where law enforcement must step in and protect the rights of foreclosure victims lacking these type resources. Looking at this verdict, the $25 billion National Mortgage Settlement has been anything but generous as it represents roughly 0.08 percent of the total possible exposure.

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